The art shack is long gone, though it’s remembered with a plaque from the Temecula Valley Historical Society at its location in what is now Baily’s restaurant, 28699 Old Town Front St.

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Fortunately, the public can still see two of Love’s gorgeous paintings that were recently placed in the Little Temecula History Center, corner of Wolf Store Road and Redhawk Parkway. The center is owned by the Vail Ranch Restoration Association.

Former Temecula artist Ralph Love used the area as a subject for many of his paintings. (Photo courtesy of Temecula Valley Museum)

One painting is of the historic Wolf Store that is nearby in the same shopping center as the history center, part of the restored ranch. Another, one of my all-time favorite paintings, is Old Town Temecula in the daylight of long ago, long before the hustle-bustle, the big buildings, and the many cars; that are the thriving area today.

But before I go any further, let’s get one thing out of the way. No, I’m not related to Ralph Love. If only I had a dollar for every time I’ve been asked the question since I moved here in 1988. Better yet, if I had just one of his paintings for those many queries.

It describes Love’s shack and the sagging roof, leaning walls “and a floor that reminds you of being aboard a ship in a storm.”

“When you enter this building, you are surrounded with the most magnificent paints – each one better than the other paintings – paintings that take you from the crash sea on the coast to the dry, hot, enchanting desert and on to the huge mountains with the peaks encompassed in clouds and a horizon you want to venture behind to become a part of.”

Love also was an ordained minister and often filled in for vacationing pastors when he lived here, said Rebecca Farnbach of the Restoration Association.

“Longtime residents here say he would give away paintings sometimes when he preached, as a reward for the person who brought the most visitors to church,” she said.

Oh, to have been one of those religious recruiters.

His daughter, Evelyn Love Norris in Carlsbad, says the family once lived in Lake Elsinore, yet her father decided Temecula was the place to open a gallery.

“It was rural California with old buildings with history and interesting shapes. Ranches, hay fields and Palomar mountain. These alone gave him a vast amount of potential scenes that inspired him to live in Temecula,” Norris said.

“Autumn in California,” an oil painting by Temecula painter Ralph Love, is being displayed by the Vail Ranch Restoration Association. (Photo courtesy of Temecula Valley Museum)

“Once it began to grow and traffic and noise, he liked it less,” Norris added. “But the beauty around him kept him there until health issues caused them (he and his wife Bertha) to move near me in 1988.”

Ironically, that’s about when people first moved to southwest Riverside County in droves. They moved in, Love moved out, his ranches and hay fields disappearing like he did.

At least he left a beautiful way to recapture those forgotten times – his paintings.